Theophilus Augustus Thompson was born a slave on April 21, 1855 in Frederick, Maryland. He is considered the first recognized African-American chess player in the United States. Thompson was famous not only for his tournament play, but also his highly acclaimed 1873 book on endgame positions, Chess Problems: Either to Play and Mate.

His chess playing career was short as he disappeared almost as abruptly as he arrived. It has been rumored that he may have fallen prey to a racial lynching at a young age, but his disappearance remains a mystery.

WorldChampeen: Born April 21, 1855 in Frederick, Maryland, Theophilus Thompson is identified in various sources as being the first Black chess player of note. One may call him the first Black master except that such a titles associated with rating didn't appear until 1950. One could imagine the challenges that Mr. Thompson faced in such an era since he lived during the American Civil War, and in an area that was reputed to be a KKK stronghold. As a domestic servant, he managed to learn chess from John K. Hanshew, the publisher of The Maryland Chess Review in 1872. Mr. loaned the 17-year old a chessboard and several chess problems to solve. Not only did he solve those ones assigned, but began composing his own which he later contributed to The Dubuque Chess Journal. - biography from www.thechessdrum.net under the section of Drum Majors and there is additional reading material there as well as the above game.

Nightsurfer: THE CHESSDRUM Dr. Daaim Shabazz has put forward some interesting comments on the important role that Theophilus Thompson has played with regard to the emancipation of Afro-American chess players in the United States - on the occasion of a (German-language) interview, please compare http://www.chessbase.de/nachrichten... .

W Shinkman vs T Thompson, 1875 is particularly curious, first in that we have a new rare game by the famous "Wizard of Grand Rapids" William Shinkman, but moreover Thompson had a very comfortable position at the point where he reportedly resigned. Perhaps the game score is not transcribed faithfully, or maybe there were additional moves.

Nightsurfer: Thank you so much, dear people of ChessGames.com, that you have paid respect to <Theophilus Thompson> by making him <The Player of The Day January 21st, 2013> - on that very day that is <Martin Luther King Day 2013> ( ... and, BTW, just one day after <President Obama> has been sworn in for his 2nd term as President of the USA on January 20th, 2013 ...).

MountainMatt: As a Christian, I can't help but smile at his first name. It is the name (or perhaps honorary title) of the addressee of both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, and it literally means "friend of God" or "lover of God".

Nightsurfer: With regard to the date of <Theophilus Thompson> leaving this world: the author <Neil Brennen> has pointed out to the fact that <Theophilus Thompson> might have lived until 1880 at least - based on the US Census 1880 that shows <Theophilus Thompson> being employed as an oysterman in Maryland.

Maybe <Theophilus Thompson> has even lived until 1920+ - based on the US Census 1920 that shows <Theophilus Thompson> being still alive at age 64, with a wife and a child, please compare http://www.thechessdrum.net/histori... !

For others interested, there are some articles I have written on his problems at the Chess Drum site. Unfortunately illness and other pesky issues have prevented me from making a full analysis of his problems. Some, especially, his selfmates, are quite good.

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